Guts Enough
by 39addict101
Summary: Reagan is jealously watching Natalie flirt with Dan when...read to find out! For 39CluesFan-Star for winning 3rd place in my contest.


**This is for 39CluesFan-Star for winning third place in my contest. Enjoy!**

Reagan Holt stared at the wall, blankly. She listened to the chatter around here, the stupid banter, the flirting.

It was the flirting that drove her insane, especially when the person she hated most, was flirting with Dan Cahill, who happened the be the nicest...and the cutest guy here.

Natalie Kabra, beauty queen, several time obnoxious flirter, heart breaker, was flirting with Dan Cahill, who didn't even seem to notice.

She was brushing the leaves out of his hair, her hand lingering just a moment too long in the dirty blonde hair.

Reagan gritted her teeth, and hoped no one noticed her fists clenched.

Ted came up to her and asked, "Why are clenching your fists?"

Reagan did a double take. "How did you know?"

Ted shrugged. "I could almost feel the tension coming off you, and I heard you clench and unclench your fists a couple times."

Reagan looked to where Ted had been standing, on the other side of the room, where Sinead and Hamilton where laughing obnoxiously.

"You heard me...all the way over there?" She questioned.

Ted nodded. "Yeah."

Reagan turned and walked away, going out the front door into the warm sunshine. Birds twittered, and the grass waved in the warm breeze.

Were her hostile feelings for Natalie really that obvious, if even Ted Starling, who was blind, could notice them?

She sighed, and ran a hand through her long brown hair. She hadn't worn it in pigtails today, hoping Dan would notice, but he'd too preoccupied with Natalie's soft, sleek, shiny black hair.

Once more she sighed, wrapping her arms around herself, wondering why this pain hurt so much. She knew Dan liked Natalie, she had tried to tell herself that when she realized she was starting to have feelings for him, but they didn't go away.

To calm herself, she had told her mind that if Dan didn't like her back, she wouldn't care. It wouldn't hurt her.

But it had, much more than she'd expected.

She had never known the pain of watching the boy you love, love some other girl. Now she did, and it hurt more than anything in her entire life.

She heard the door open, and turned around to see Hamilton standing in the doorway, watching her.

"What's up, sis?" He asked, walking up to her.

"Nothing much." She said, hoping the pain wouldn't break through her voice, announcing its presence.

Hamilton narrowed his eyes at her. "Look, Reagan, I may not be a genius, but I can tell something it wrong with you. What's up? Just tell me." His dark brown eyes were warm and caring as they peered intently down to her's.

She frowned. "It's..." She let her voice trail off, and ran a worried hand through her hair.

Hamilton frowned. "Why isn't your hair in pigtails?" He asked.

"It's Natalie." Reagan blurted.

"Huh?" Hamilton asked, quite confused. "So because Natalie come you took your hair out of its pigtails?"

Reagan rolled her eyes. _Boys._ "No, doofus." She said. "Natalie is the reason I'm mad."

"Why?" Hamilton wasn't getting it.

"Do I have to spell everything out to you?" Reagan asked. "I like Dan and Natalie seems to know it, and all she can think about is ways to hurt me!"

There was a rustling in the bushes, and Dan stepped out. "What?" He asked. Then he blushed. "Uh, I mean, uh..."

Reagan turned bright red, and ran into the house.

Hamilton and Dan stared after her, watching her run, her hair billowing out behind her.

"Well," Dan said awkwardly. "She sure can run."

Hamilton glared at him. "Why'd you come out here? Reagan and I were having a private chat! She just confessed she liked you, and all you can say is that she can run? Of course she can run! She's a Holt!"

Dan held up his hands. "Dude, I don't know what to say."

Hamilton rolled his eyes. "Sure you do. You say, 'Oh, I like her too.' or you say, 'Nah, I like Natalie!' "

"Oh." Dan said. "Its not that I don't like her, its just..." He paused, contemplating. "It's just...I don't know her that well, and I know Natalie more, with Amy and Ian together like, all the time!, but anyway..."

Hamilton scrunched his forehead and spoke, cutting Dan off. "Ok then...you just need to spend some time together. Whatcha doing next Sunday?"

-Isn't this a pretty cool linebreak?-

That was how Reagan and Dan ended up sitting at the park the next Sunday morning, awkwardly sitting, staring at the ground, counting the ants that walked by.

"So..." Dan began. "Uh...how are you?"

Reagan shrugged. _Seventy-four, seventy-five._ "Ok, I guess."

"Oh." Dan said.

 _Seventy-nine. Eighty, eighty-one, eighty-two._

"Uh...how's school?"

 _Eighty-six, eighty-seven._ "School." Reagan answered.

Dan sighed. "Why did Hamilton drag me here again?"

Reagan shrugged. _Ninety-one, ninety-two, ninety-three, ninety-four._

"Sure you do!" Dan insisted. "He must have told you!"

 _Ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred._ Reagan sighed, and stopped counting ants. "Do you really want to know?"

Dan looked down. "Uh...yeah...I guess."

"I told him I liked you, as you well know, since you eavesdropped." _Why is this so hard?_ Reagan silently screamed.

"Uh...sorry." Dan said, blushing.

"He decided to set us up. He told me you knew too. So why are you pretending you didn't?"

Dan blushed a shade darker. "Because I wanted something to talk to you about."

Reagan rolled her eyes. "Right..." She said. "Whatever you say."

Dan ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair. "I'm serious! Can't you get it into your thick skull that I like you? That's why I followed you out there yesterday!"

"But...you were with Natalie!" An astonished Reagan protested.

"Was." Dan corrected. "I was talking with her about you, asking her what I should do."

"Oh." Reagan said, meekly. She licked her lips. "So...you like me? How am I supposed to believe that?"

"You think I would lie and tell you I like you if I don't?" Dan asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Uh...no...but..." Reagan stopped. "Nevermind."

"Never mind what?" Dan asked.

Reagan shook her head. "Its stupid. I was going to ask if Natalie thought you didn't have the guts to tell someone you liked them."

Dan stared at her, his mouth open in shock. "That's exactly what she told me, that I didn't have enough guts to tell you! That's why I followed you outside, to prove her wrong...but...it kinda backfired."

Reagan laughed. "That's funny."

Dan cocked his head. "Uh...you wanna go get some ice cream? It's super hot out here."

Reagan smiled. "Sure, let's go!"

Thus began the wonderful friendship of two young Cahills.

 **So, please do not hesitate to tell me what you think!**


End file.
